The long-duration winter storm that is bringing heavy snow across much of western Massachusetts, heavy snow and some ice across central and northeastern Massachusetts, and snow followed by rain in eastern and southeastern Massachusetts moved into the region with high intensity.

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Snowfall rates greater than 2 inches an hour were reported Thursday afternoon in some communities.

Drivers were advised by forecasters to stay off the roads during the afternoon, unless travel was essential. In Saugus, cars and trucks were unable to get up a hill on Route 1 north. Route 9 in Wellesley was at a standstill.

The storm forecast of high winds, downed tree limbs and the possibility of power outages had utility crews on standby.

For central and western Massachusetts, where the storm was expected to stay all snow, up to 14 inches were forecast.

Along the coast, an inch of rain could cause other problems.

"Where we do see a lot of heavy rain along the coastline, poor drainage is a concern," said Storm Team 5 meteorologist Cindy Fitzgibbon.

There is the potential for snow amounts of 6 to 14 inches across western and central Massachusetts and the potential for 4 to 8 inches along and just east of Interstate 495 with much lesser amounts or rain to the south and east.

The immediate Boston area should see just 2 to 4 inches of snow before a change to rain.

The weather service issued a winter storm warning for much of the state, with the exception of areas on the coast south of Boston.

Boston's Logan International Airport remained open, but aviation director Ed Freni said about a third of all flights in and out had been cancelled, not because of the local weather, but weather conditions in other parts of the country.

NSTAR says the storm poses special concerns because of range of precipitation forecast for the company's service area. All the major utility companies -- NSTAR, National Grid and Unitil -- plan to have emergency teams standing by.

NSTAR spokesman Mike Durand said coastal customers could see outages from high winds and rain, while those inland face heavy wet snow.

Durand said continued tree-trimming operations and lighter consistency snow have kept outages down so far this winter season. But Thursday's storm could be one of the larger tests of the season.

While tides are astronomically low, but there may be minor coastal flooding along east-facing shorelines during the Thursday night high tide. Beach erosion is a concern due to the high seas just offshore.